BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 29. ExxonMobil and its co-venturers have produced the 1 billionth barrel of oil from Guyana’s Stabroek block, less than seven years after production began at the Liza field in December 2019, ExxonMobil said.
The milestone underscores the rapid expansion of Guyana’s offshore oil industry, which has grown from its first production in 2019 into a major source of global oil supply in less than a decade.
ExxonMobil said the Stabroek development now comprises four major offshore projects — Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, Payara and Yellowtail — supported by four floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels: Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, Prosperity and ONE GUYANA.
The startup of Yellowtail in August 2025 brought Guyana’s installed production capacity to more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd). ExxonMobil described Yellowtail as the largest Guyana development to date, with initial annual average production of around 250,000 bpd.
The Stabroek block is operated by ExxonMobil Guyana, which holds a 45% interest. Hess Guyana Exploration holds 30%, while CNOOC Petroleum Guyana holds the remaining 25%.
Rapid development
The pace of development has been a defining feature of ExxonMobil’s Guyana operations. ExxonMobil and its partners made their first major discovery in the Stabroek block in 2015, and first oil from Liza was achieved in December 2019. Since then, the partners have moved rapidly to bring additional developments online. ExxonMobil has said the company’s Guyana projects have benefited from deepwater expertise and an accelerated development approach.
The company currently has additional projects in the pipeline. Uaru, the fifth development, is expected to start production by the end of 2026, while Whiptail, the sixth, is targeted for startup in 2027. Hammerhead, the seventh approved project, is expected to begin production in 2029. ExxonMobil has also identified Longtail as an eighth potential development, although it remains subject to regulatory review. If all eight developments proceed, ExxonMobil expects Guyana’s production capacity to reach about 1.7 million bpd, with gross production estimated at around 1.3 million bpd by 2030.
Guyana has become an important part of ExxonMobil’s global upstream strategy. In its 2030 corporate plan, the company identified Guyana, the Permian Basin and LNG as its key “advantaged” assets. ExxonMobil expects production from these assets to account for a significant share of its overall upstream volumes by 2030.
The company’s current estimate of the Stabroek block’s recoverable resource is more than 8 billion oil-equivalent barrels, according to its latest project overview. Earlier estimates had put the resource at nearly 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels following a series of discoveries.
The scale of the resource has made Guyana one of ExxonMobil’s most significant new upstream growth areas. In its 2025 corporate plan update, ExxonMobil said Guyana was among the assets underpinning its expected increase in upstream production through 2030.
The expansion of oil production has also increased ExxonMobil’s presence in Guyana’s economy. ExxonMobil said more than 6,200 Guyanese were working in support of Stabroek block operations as of 2025, representing about 70% of the workforce. The company and its contractors had spent more than $2.9 billion with Guyanese suppliers since 2015, according to ExxonMobil.
More than $7.8 billion had been paid into Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund since production began in 2019, the company said in 2025. ExxonMobil has also announced a $100 million, 10-year STEM education initiative in Guyana focused on teacher training, student opportunities and career pathways.
“The production of the one billionth barrel highlights the importance of Guyana's resources not only to the country, but also to global energy markets,” ExxonMobil said. The company said the milestone reflects the contribution of Guyanese employees, contractors, suppliers and partners involved in developing the country’s offshore energy industry. With further projects under construction and additional developments planned, ExxonMobil expects Guyana’s Stabroek block to remain a major source of production growth for the company and a growing contributor to global oil supply through the end of the decade.
